The Ashanti regional chairman of Cocoa, Coffee and Shea Nut Association, Nana S Y. Akouko has appealed to Ghanaians to patronize more cocoa products to add value to the commodity on the international market.
According to him, when Ghanaians consume more of the locally processed cocoa products, it will lead to scarcity in the world market, hence, the demand for it at the international level will rise.
The situation, he said, will push for the rise in producer price of cocoa at the international market to their advantage of cocoa farmers and the country as a whole.
Cocoa farmers in the country are unhappy with government inability to increase cocoa prices for 2017-2018 main crop season, due to world market price fluctuations.
But Speaking exclusively to gardjagh.org, Nana Akouko, said to have absolute and fair price control there is the need to promote the consumption of locally processed cocoa products.
Last year, the government of Ghana increased the producer price cocoa by 11%. This meant that 64 kilos of cocoa beans were to be sold at GHS475.
However, at this year’s world cocoa day celebration, which was observed in Kumasi by Ghana Cocoa Board, the president of the republic, Nana Addo Dankwa revealed to the teaming cocoa farmers that government is engaging one of the largest cocoa producing country in Africa, Cote d’Ivoire, about the declining international price for the commodity.
Despite cocoa being a lucrative business venture, many cocoa farmers are still struggling to make a worthy living. As an effort to boost cocoa production, and increase the cocoa price at the local level, the Regional cocoa chief encouraged Ghanaians to make cocoa consumption a daily habit to save farmers, to improve the livelihoods of cocoa farmers in the country.
